Adding User Loops

I'd like to confirm the results an experiment I tried with adding loops that seems like a bug.

I created a loop using the Apple Loop Utility and set the bpm and key. Then I imported the loop into GB. GB correctly interpreted the bpm and key when I changed the project key and tempo.

I added this loop to the Apple Loop Library by dragging it to the Loop Browser. When I looked in the Loop Browser the bpm and key were incorrectly shown as the current project key.

However, when I dragged the loop back into the project, the loop behaved as though it still had the bpm and key that I originally set in the Apple Loop Utility. So it looks to me like the info that shows up in the Loop Browser is getting incorrectly updated.

Is there any other way to add user loops to the Apple Loop Library and have them show up in the loop browser. I tried dragging the loop directly to the Apple Loop Library, but it didn't appear in the Loop Browser.

Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 23, 2006 4:52 PM

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9 replies

Mar 23, 2006 5:25 PM in response to tangoloco

"However, when I dragged the loop back into the project, the loop behaved as though it still had the bpm and key that I originally set in the Apple Loop Utility. So it looks to me like the info that shows up in the Loop Browser is getting incorrectly updated. "

Are you saying that you put the loop you made in a different song with a different BPM?

Mar 23, 2006 11:10 PM in response to tangoloco

The key and BPM label are just that, labels. By their nature, Apple loops will conform to the BPM and key you are working in. That's what makes GB so d@ng fun. The label just shows you what 'settings' the loop was made in, sort of an 'ideal situation label.'

Good luck and have some fun...

a quick edit...it's not JUST a label. slight simplification on my part. It's a label to tell the computer how much it needs to change to sound accurate in other BPMs and keys.

Mar 25, 2006 8:30 PM in response to tangoloco

you can drag it directly
into the Loop Browser and it will retain its original
loop properties.


Tangoloco,
You have indirectly touched upon a weakness of the GB browser that I must continually work around. Since I am tonight in the process of implementing that work around I thought I would find this post and flesh it out.

Once an "Apple Loop" is in the GB browser no matter what its original BPM and key are you can only hear it in the BPM and Key of the master track. This is convenient in most cases but in some cases it is very inconvenient.

Inconvenient in the sense that one can only hear the loop in its original BPM and key by either matching GB's Tempos and Key to that loop OR you must use the Mac Finder to listen to the loop in its original condition.

Often I like to hear the loop in its original BPM tempo and key. Often I will find one loop that inspires me to create a tune around that loop in its original BPM tempo. But if I am making a GB tune in 120 BPM and go thru the browser and see an 80 BPM loop I can ONLY hear it thru the browser in 120 BPM.

I may even want to take that loop at its original 80 BPM and drop it into my 120 Track AT 80 BPM. So what I have to do is work around and find the loop in the Finder and then move it into the GB time line from outside the application. Kind of what your question is about in a way. Dropping a loop into GB so it can retain its original BPM and NOT be affected by whatever the tracks BPM is.

If I could change one thing in GB it would be the browser ability to playback. I would love to see a browser that can play a loop in the current tracks BPM (like it does now) and also give me the option to hear it in its original BPM.

Well back to music making.......

Apr 3, 2006 6:01 PM in response to tangoloco

If you want a loop to always act the same way (no pitch change or tempo change), then set it to be a 'one shot'.
Of course, then I'd ask why don't you just use a regular AIFF instead of trying to make it a loop?

You're not saying that the loop browser shows settings that aren't the actual settings shown on the loop utiltiy, are you?
You're saying that what you HEAR is not the original key and tempo? This is indeed expected and the point of using a loop.

Apr 3, 2006 11:26 PM in response to Analog Fan

You're not saying that the loop browser shows settings that aren't the actual settings shown on the loop utiltiy, are you?


As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I'm saying.

Let's say I set a key of C in the loop utility. If I drag the loop directly to the loop library, the key will show as C. However, if my project has a key of F, and I first drag the loop into the project and then to the library, the key of the loop will be shown as F in the library. However, the pitch has not changed. That's easy enough to show by taking the loop from the library and playing it in iTunes.

The pitch will be changed from C to F in this project as you would expect. However, if I create another project with a key of G and use this loop from the loop library that is now incorrectly classified as F, the pitch will be changed only 2 semitones instead of 7 semitones. So the pitch will be incorrect.

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Adding User Loops

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